Video: Obama signs bill blocking Iranian UN envoy from entry

posted at 1:01 pm on April 19, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Yesterday, Ted Cruz had his first authored bill get signed into law, but the freshman Senator from Texas probably didn’t too excited by the victory. Despite unanimous support in both chambers of Congress for the new law, President Barack Obama sounded less than enthusiastic about enforcing the bill he signed yesterday that would block the proposed Iranian envoy to the UN from receiving an entry visa to the US:

It’s the oddest of legislative couples: President Obama and one of his biggest critics, Ted Cruz.

Obama on Friday signed a Cruz-backed bill aimed at blocking Iran’s appointed ambassador to the United Nations because of evidence linking him to the 1979 takeover of the American embassy in Tehran.

Technically, the law bars individuals from entering the U.S. as U.N. ambassadors if they are “found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity directed against the United States or its allies.”

In reality, the bill targets a specific Iranian individual: Hamid Aboutalebi, who has been refused a visa by the administration.

Aboutalebi belonged to the same organization that seized and held American diplomats in 1979 from the Tehran embassy — people who should have had the same diplomatic immunity Iran now demands for Aboutalebi. The group acted as a front for the Iranian government and held dozens of Americans for 444 days. Aboutalebu now claims that he only provided translation and negotiation services for the group, but his appointment was clearly intended as a slap in the face to the US. Cruz and Chuck Schumer responded to the provocation with the bill that bars his entry to the US, which passed the Senate by acclamation and the House approval quickly followed.

That kind of widespread consensus put the White House in a tough spot. At first, the Obama administration appeared tentative about the Iranian appointment, mindful of US obligations under Article IV of the 1947 treaty establishing UN headquarters within the US. At first, Jay Carney referred reporters to the State Department for answers as to whether Aboutalebi would get his credentials, but later last week the White House announced that it would not approve the application.

President Obama on Friday signed into law a bill authored by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would bar an Iranian diplomat from entering the United States, but immediately issued a statement saying he won’t enforce it.

Obama decided to treat the law as mere advice. “Acts of espionage and terrorism against the United States and our allies are unquestionably problems of the utmost gravity, and I share the Congress’s concern that individuals who have engaged in such activity may use the cover of diplomacy to gain access to our Nation,” Obama said in his signing statement.

“Nevertheless, as President [George H.W.] Bush also observed, “curtailing by statute my constitutional discretion to receive or reject ambassadors is neither a permissible nor a practical solution.” I shall therefore continue to treat section 407, as originally enacted and as amended by S. 2195, as advisory in circumstances in which it would interfere with the exercise of this discretion.”

Iran is “outraged” over the decision:

As Joel Gehrke pointed out for the Washington Examiner (and even Al-Jazeera notes above), Obama spent the better part of two years ripping into George W. Bush for issuing signing statements that denied that the executive had to abide by bills he signed. The self-described Constitutional law scholar lectured Bush on the constitutional remedy for bills that the executive refuses to enforce, which is the veto. If Obama wants advice, he can ask for it; if he signs a law, he must abide by it. Most Constitution experts already know this.

A senior Iranian military official has urged the foreign ministry to name a new envoy to the UN after the US blocked its chosen ambassador over alleged ties to the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday.

Gen. Mohammad Bagherzadeh also said that Hamid Aboutalebi should remain close to his mother because the family lost two sons during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

That would be a good excuse for Tehran to retreat, especially since the UN doesn’t want to get involved. Either they pick someone else or go unrepresented at the UN. We’ll see who replaces Aboutalebi, though; don’t think the insults have stopped for good.

Blowback

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It is a useless law. I hate useless laws. You can’t tell countries who they can have in their envoys at the UN. If we start doing this with everybody we find objectionable most countries would have nobody at the united nation.

If this becomes a trend the united nation will need to move to Geneva so they can continue with their business. That place has hosted murderers, terrorists, dictators and more and now we take issue with some Iranians. What is it about Iran that make so many irrational.

Since Obama is great at ignoring laws, here to him adding this one to the list. Win win. Congress get to feel like they are being tough and doing something and the united nation get to keep on their business.

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The United Nations has three additional, subsidiary, regional headquarters or headquarters districts. These are located in Geneva, Vienna (Austria, where they don’t speak Austrian, like dummy obama thinks), and Nairobi.

A programming note to share amongst the readers. For those of you who only just joined us via the open enrollment this week, your very first comment will not show up until an editor approves it, so there may be some delay. (Getting to them as fast as I can.) Once your first comment is approved, subsequent ones will show up in real time… unless and until, of course, you turn out to be a troll and we eject you from the pool with the next round of chlorine.

Signed,

The Mean Old Management

Jazz Shaw on April 19, 2014 at 1:16 PM

That is true in most cases. There are some things (e.g., multiple links in a comment, bad words, other trigger words that tend to indicate trolling) that will cause a comment to go into moderation.

A programming note to share amongst the readers. For those of you who only just joined us via the open enrollment this week, your very first comment will not show up until an editor approves it, so there may be some delay. (Getting to them as fast as I can.) Once your first comment is approved, subsequent ones will show up in real time… unless and until, of course, you turn out to be a troll and we eject you from the pool with the next round of chlorine.

Signed,

The Mean Old Management

Jazz Shaw on April 19, 2014 at 1:16 PM

That is true in most cases. There are some things (e.g., multiple links in a comment, bad words, other trigger words that tend to indicate trolling) that will cause a comment to go into moderation.

Steve Eggleston on April 19, 2014 at 1:23 PM

I’m kinda wondering lately if some of our posters should legally have to register as lobbying agents of a foreign government.

The United Nations has three additional, subsidiary, regional headquarters or headquarters districts. These are located in Geneva, Vienna (Austria, where they don’t speak Austrian, like dummy obama thinks), and Nairobi.

Schadenfreude on April 19, 2014 at 1:20 PM

Then it wouldn’t be a big deal for them to move to Geneva if they already have a facility there.

He was merely a lecturer in Constitutional law. Meaning he explained what the Supreme Court ruled in certain decisions. He did no actual scholarship, i.e. research and writing about any aspect of the Constitution. Where are his law review articles?

If he does get into NYC I’m hoping the local newspapers will print his picture and everyone in NYC will boycott him. No hotel room, no restaurant food, no dry cleaning, no tranny hookers, nothing, nada. He can live in his office in the UN building and eat the cafeteria food.

I do an imitation of Obama signing legislation that makes my entire left arm, unable to hold a pen naturally, take huge mechanical jerky motions and requiring the whole table and both pages to robotically sign a document operated by remote from another location detached from the president’s head and it fails to crack myself up. I end up disgusted.

And that happens every time I’m shown the man signing a document, I automatically imitate it, like I’m the robot, I can’t help it. I’m that immature. It’s happened now, like fifteen times.

You know when I first joined, mulitple links used to kick my comment into moderation. Of late I have noticed that they don’t. I haven’t pushed my luck with no more than three links, so wonder if they pushed the threshold from two links to something higher.

The Tax Court agreed that, “When a person puts into issue his subjective intent in deciding how to comply with the law, he may forfeit the privilege afforded attorney-client communications.”

Therefore, if the taxpayers persist in these affirmative defenses, the court said, it would be unfair to deprive the IRS of the knowledge of the contents of the opinion letters that gave the taxpayers that alleged knowledge, understanding, and beliefs. The court granted the IRS motion, requesting the court to compel production of the opinion letters.

You know when I first joined, mulitple links used to kick my comment into moderation. Of late I have noticed that they don’t. I haven’t pushed my luck with no more than three links, so wonder if they pushed the threshold from two links to something higher.

I told a traffic cop once that the speed-limit sign was just an advisory. Didn’t work. Not amused.

slickwillie2001 on April 19, 2014 at 1:07 PM

I actually got away with one similarly.
told the officer I always considered the signs to be recommended minimum speed so as to not impede the flow of traffic which could create a dangerous situation for him.
he laughed and just gave a warning.
the second time he caught me though I got a ticket, just plead guilty and took the punishment as I was speeding.

It is a useless law. I hate useless laws. You can’t tell countries who they can have in their envoys at the UN. If we start doing this with everybody we find objectionable most countries would have nobody at the united nation.

If this becomes a trend the united nation will need to move to Geneva so they can continue with their business. That place has hosted murderers, terrorists, dictators and more and now we take issue with some Iranians. What is it about Iran that make so many irrational.

Since Obama is great at ignoring laws, here to him adding this one to the list. Win win. Congress get to feel like they are being tough and doing something and the united nation get to keep on their business.

coolrepublica on April 19, 2014 at 1:10 PM

Agreed. But how much you wanna bet the the good ol’ US of A will still be stuck with paying the lion’s share for the operations of that den of thieves even in Geneva?

He was merely a lecturer in Constitutional law. Meaning he explained what the Supreme Court ruled in certain decisions. He did no actual scholarship, i.e. research and writing about any aspect of the Constitution. Where are his law review articles?

It is a useless law. I hate useless laws. You can’t tell countries who they can have in their envoys at the UN. If we start doing this with everybody we find objectionable most countries would have nobody at the united nation(1).

If this becomes a trend the united nation will need to move to Geneva so they can continue with their business.(2) That place has hosted murderers, terrorists, dictators and more and now we take issue with some Iranians. What is it about Iran that make so many irrational.

Since Obama is great at ignoring laws, here to him adding this one to the list. Win win. Congress get to feel like they are being tough and doing something and the united nation get to keep on their business.(3)

It was an affirmative action job. I see his “career as paralleling the bomber at the Army post. He has been helped along all the way because of PC. 100 years from now they’ll shake their heads over this era and wonder why.

A simple solution : boot the UN, which is nothing more than a world stage for dictators, fascists, looters, moochers, and extortion artists, to strut and preen and rant against this nation, off of United States soil and stop ponying up 22% of their overall budget, plus providing security and real estate for them.

A simple solution : boot the UN, which is nothing more than a world stage for dictators, fascists, looters, moochers, and extortion artists, to strut and preen and rant against this nation, off of United States soil and stop ponying up 22% of their overall budget, plus providing security and real estate for them.

thatsafactjack on April 19, 2014 at 2:53 PM

There are too many politicians and their cronies to whom the UN being here is an advantage.

It is a useless law. I hate useless laws. You can’t tell countries who they can have in their envoys at the UN. If we start doing this with everybody we find objectionable most countries would have nobody at the united nation.

If this becomes a trend the united nation will need to move to Geneva so they can continue with their business. That place has hosted murderers, terrorists, dictators and more and now we take issue with some Iranians. What is it about Iran that make so many irrational.

Since Obama is great at ignoring laws, here to him adding this one to the list. Win win. Congress get to feel like they are being tough and doing something and the united nation get to keep on their business.

coolrepublica on April 19, 2014 at 1:10 PM

Nobody, including us, at the United Nations should be a goal, not a drawback. The United Nations is a worthless organization made up mostly of murderous, totalitarian thugs.

The United States should withdraw from the UN treaty and kick the whole lot of them out of our country — or better yet, arrest most of them for war crimes.

He was merely a lecturer in Constitutional law. Meaning he explained what the Supreme Court ruled in certain decisions. He did no actual scholarship, i.e. research and writing about any aspect of the Constitution. Where are his law review articles?

rbj on April 19, 2014 at 1:35 PM

I don’t think there is even proof of the above. Obama was an affirmative action ghost – nobody knew him, nobody remembers him.

the Cruz-Schumer bill, which Obama apparently felt was more trouble to veto than to sign

Ed, how can you even entertain the though of a veto, when you are well aware of this:

unanimous support in both chambers of Congress for the new law

It only takes 2/3 votes of both houses to override a veto. This bill already had unanimous support in both chambers of Congress. A veto was CERTAIN to be overridden. It would have been absolute insanity for Obama to veto the bill.

Steve gets it..

In the ObamiNation, an overridden veto gives Teh SCOAMT less of a leg to stand on when he ignores the law than a signing statement effectively vetoing the law.